Hundreds attend spring banquet

The 127 students enrolled in the local Teen Challenge are proof that God is there when you least expect him, said executive director Jack Smart.

That's why "God ... when you least expect him" was the theme Saturday at the 2002 Spring Banquet for Teen Challenge International of Mid-America, he said.

The banquet, attended by about 620 supporters, is one of the mission's biggest fund raisers during the year. A similar banquet was held Friday in Carbondale.

Administrative assistant Beverly Breithaupt said the fund-raising goal for the two banquets is $60,000 for the Cape Girardeau County training center, which provides academic training, job skills and spiritual guidance for men of all ages who are addicted to drugs, alcohol and often crime.

Despite the name Teen Challenge, the average age of those enrolled is 26.

Smart said the program has a 70 percent cure rate as opposed to a 10 percent rate of secular, more expensive drug programs.

Guests watched video testimonials from students, listened to choral music and watched a dramatic skit based on events in the life of the keynote speaker, the Rev. Mark Schaefer of Marion, Ill.

Schaefer, 33, fought with alcohol and drug problems since he was 6 years old. He had been through five drug rehabilitation programs, had been kicked out of the Navy and was in trouble with the law when he was introduced to the local Teen Challenge program in 1993.

He now serves as director of Michael's House of Hope in Marion, a transition home for addicts re-entering society.